A Gilroy woman’s big donation has raised to $25,000 the reward offered to catch the person who threw a puppy and its nursing mother trapped in sandbags from a moving car, killing the pup.
“My heart was so broken that someone would do this to an animal,” said the woman, who contacted the Dispatch and asked to remain anonymous.
“Nowadays when people get caught for torturing an animal, they get slapped on the wrist,” she said. “ When I read in the paper that the reward was $6,000, I thought nobody is going to come forward for that, and the (culprits) need to be caught.”
And so she contacted the Center for Animal Protection and Education (CAPE), an animal care organization involved in the case, and donated $19,000 to bring the reward amount to $25,000.
“ I bet someone is going to talk now,” said the woman, who described herself as a philanthropist and animal lover.
The incident happened in Watsonville on Feb. 20th, and when the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter and its veterinarian figured out what had happened and the story was told, the response from the public was immediate and has not abated.
“We have been flooded with emails and phone calls,” said JP Novic, founder of CAPE, which is headquartered in Grass Valley, Calif., and has a foster care operation in Santa Cruz County.
“People are outraged by the whole thing,” she said.
Almost immediately, Pet Food Express donated $5,000 toward a reward and then an individual donated another $1,000.
It was at that point that the Gilroy woman learned of the situation and contacted CAPE and the decision was made that $25,000 would attract someone with knowledge of what happened, Novic said.
“The compassion and inquiries and well wishes we have received has been incredible—not only local but nationally; West Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, all saying they want to adopt the dog or thanking us for rescuing her,” said Melanie Sobel, director of the Santa Cruz Animal Shelter, which has investigated the case and arranged for the female dog’s care.
Founded in 1992, the organization “works to save the lives of individual animals and to educate people about ways in which they can change their own lives to alleviate animal suffering,” according to its website at www.capeanimals.org.
CAPE foster care manager Cathy Townsend said the sable, tan and white miniature Pinscher-Chihuahua mix, who has been named Beverly and is about six years old, has been placed in foster care and will be available for adoption in a few weeks.
“She is a very, very gentle, sweet dog and she has been through a lot; she is doing well,” Townsend said. “You can tell she really wants to connect with people.”
Investigators believe that Beverly and her puppy were stuffed into separate sand bags alive and were tossed from a moving vehicle along Minto Road in a remote area of Watsonville near the dump on Feb. 20.
A citizen found them and called the Santa Cruz Animal Shelter at about 5 p.m. to report an abandoned animal, according to Sobel.
When found, Beverly “was just sitting next to her puppy and did not want to leave,” Sobel said.
Investigators believe the mother, who clearly had been nursing, may have chewed her way out of her bag.
Shelter Field Service Manager Todd Stosuy responded to the call and found Beverly sitting beside her pup on the side of the road.
He said that both plastic-like sandbags were secured by ties on the top but one clearly had a hole that had been chewed open and stretched.
The adult dog was “crying and whining and scratching,” inside his truck until the dead pup was put in the cage with her and she calmed down, Stosuy said.
Sobel said a veterinarian determined that the pup, just weeks old, died from blunt force trauma to the head, probably the result of being thrown from a car.
Beverly was given a complete exam and was found to have a slight heart murmur. She was spayed and then placed in a foster home thought CAPE, Sobel said.
Sobel said there are no known witnesses to what happened to Beverly and her pup and that “It’s going to be very difficult” to find the person or persons responsible.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff office and District Attorney have offered assistance, she said.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call (831) 454-7303 ex. 1.
